Year of the Mokona
by Zelinxia
Summary: In another new world, a young woman informs the gang about the tradition of the Lunar New Year. The group - sans Kurogane - decides to come up with their own traditions.


A/N: To celebrate the Lunar New Year, I decided to write a short fic. After thinking about how Mokona resembles a rabbit and how it's the Year of the Rabbit/Cat, I was inspired to write this. Enjoy!

Year of (the) Mokona

"Hyuu, it looks like we made it to a new world!"

"Manjuu bun…for the last time, when will you stop having us land on each other?"

"Um, um, sorry everyone!" Sakura stammered the moment she realized she was on top of everybody else once again. The princess quickly slipped off the pile. Syaoran was flustering as usual and Fai and Mokona looked highly amused to the point that Kurogane got impatient and shoved the others off of him.

As soon as the ninja budged them off, a series of loud explosion went off, startling all of them.

"_Chúc mừng năm mới!"_

_ "Gung xi fat choi!"_

Suddenly out of nowhere, a large number of people were marching down the street towards the gang. A slithering object was in front of the line.

"Kyaa, it's a dragon!" Mokona shouted in fear, jumping into Fai's fluffy hood for shelter.

"Oy, get out of the way!" an unidentified voice shouted from the mob parading on the street.

Another mysterious hand appeared from the side of the street and tugged at Sakura's arm, pulling her aside. Because of that, Syaoran followed immediately to make sure nobody would mess with her, also causing the others to naturally follow.

"What do you think you were doing, staying in the streets like that as the big parade was going on?" the young woman demanded.

"Eh," Fai stepped in, "allow me to explain. You see, we just arrived in this country and we were so tired that we stopped on the street."

"Uh huh, right-"

The young woman paused and quickly scanned the oddball group of five hapless travelers. Taking in their different outfits and realizing what that meant, the young woman abruptly grinned and nodded in understanding.

"Ah, sorry for my rude manners. My name is Phuong."

"Hi, Phuong-chan. My name is Fai. This is Syaoran, Sakura, Mokona and Kuro-rin."

"It's Kurogane!"

"Nice to meet you all!" Phuong said.

"Could you tell us what's going on?" Syaoran asked.

"Oh right. Today is the first day of a lunar new year. Several cultures like Vietnamese and Chinese celebrate a new year by having it on the first new moon of the first lunar month."

"Ah…back in Nihon, we celebrate something similar to that," Kurogane reflected, wondering if it was occurring the same time in his homeland.

"But…was that really a dragon back there?" Mokona asked, still hiding in Fai's fluffy hood.

Phuong stared at Mokona with curious interest.

"Nah, those are dancers masquerading as the dragon. You see, dragons are believed to drive away bad spirits as well as loud noise, which is why we set firecrackers and have people play on traditional drums."

Phuong gently picked up Mokona. "By the way, Mokona … you look a lot like a rabbit!"

"Mokona is not a rabbit!"

"More like a manjuu bun," the ninja said with a smirk.

"Mokona is not a manjuu! Mokona is Mokona!"

"I'm just teasing, Mokona," Phuong said with an amused grin.

"You see, each year has a zodiac. There are a total of twelve. This time, it's the Year of the Rabbit for Chinese people, but for Vietnamese folks like me, it's the Year of the Cat.

"Fai-san, that's just like us!"

Fai was pleasantly amused. "Hyuu, you're right, Sakura-chan."

Phuong took one of the princess' hands in hers. "Sakura, I'd also like to say that the cherry blossoms tend to bloom in time for the lunar new year."

"That's your namesake, princess," Syaoran pointed out. Sakura returned his words with a warm smile, which also made Phuong smiled. She oddly reminded Kurogane of Princess Tomoyo, but she was not as mischievous fortunately.

"Oh ho ho-"

The ninja quickly changed his mind.

"Be glad you aren't married, Syaoran and Sakura," Phuong said, her eyes flickering dangerously.

The two, being innocent as they were, blushed at the mention of the word "married."

"You see, married couples and the elders give children red envelopes with money for good fortune. Red is a good color. Kurogane," Phuong looked at the ninja straight in the eyes, "you happen to be wearing some red. You must have good luck and happiness."

"Kurogane was not sure if he was feeling exactly happy at the moment.

Fai, who was oddly remaining silent for the whole time, suddenly had his "Aha!" face.

"Only married couples give out red envelopes…Hmm…seeing that none of us are married, we should change the rules."

Phuong nodded in approval. "Definitely, it's fun to have your own traditions."

"Whee! Syaoran-kun and Sakura-chan are still young, so they are free. Mokona is too since it's the year of the rabbit." Fai's sly grin grew even slyer. "And since it's also the year of the cat, I should pass too."

Kurogane knew he was not going to like what the idiotic mage was going to say next.

"So that leaves you, Kuro-daddy," Fai chirped, extending his hand out, palm facing upward, in front of the fuming ninja. "Now, be a good daddy and give us red envelopes."

"What makes you think that I have money in a world we just showed up in?"

Phuong joined Syaoran, Sakura and Mokona in watching the ever familiar banter between the two men.

Fai's smile never failed to be deterred. "Waah…but I think it would be fun for the family to have its own customs. Right?" Fai shot his gaze at the other children.

"We could, uh…make loud noises to make sure we get the princess' feathers safely!" Syaoran chimed in a rush.

"And we could stare at the pretty cherry blossoms in bloom," Sakura said wistfully.

"Instead of the rabbit, it could be the Year of Mokona!" Mokona suggested with excitement.

Fai clapped his hands. "See, Kuro-tan, doesn't this sound fun? Now if you want to remain a good father for the children, give them their red envelopes. You don't want misfortune coming their way, do you?"

"It's because I'm the only one wearing red!"

"Well, that too. However," Fai crept closer to the ninja, "it's also because you have charming _red_ eyes."

The ninja felt his cheeks flushing. Mokona giggled, Syaoran shook his head, and Sakura was too stunned to say anything.

"You, shut up!"

Phuong was nevertheless amused yet felt sorry for Kurogane at the same time. It isn't easy dealing with too much silliness and cuteness when you're a serious ninja.

The firecrackers went off again, momentarily distracting the usual family dynamics. All five of them veered to have a look at the next wave of the parade. Syaoran wrapped his cloak around Sakura to ensure she was warm. Mokona was happily sitting on top of Syaoran's head. Even Fai and Kurogane's shoulders were dangerously getting closer to each other.

Phuong secretly slipped out a mirror compact, opening it to reveal the face of a very familiar face.

"Everybody seems fine. And I am happy for them."


End file.
